Self-acting wagonst-bbake



JOSEPH ROSENKRANS, OF AVOGA, NEW YORK.

SELF-ACTING WAGON-BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 24,239, dated May 31, 18159.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH RosENnRANs, of Avoca, in the county ofSteuben and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Brakes for Wagons; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings and to the letters and marks thereon.

My invention is designed more particularly for wagons and carriages whenused in a hilly country, and is intended to he operated by the holdingback of the horses or team.

Of the drawings forming part of this specification Figure l alongitudinal sectional view of a wagon showing the brake in the twodifferent conditions of braking and not braking, the first beingindicated by the red lines; and Fig. 2 is a view of the brake showinghow it is attached to the disk of the brake shaft.

The brake (a), it will be seen, is of an irregular wedge-shape, havingthat one of its faces which fits against the face of the disk (In) aplane, while that face which fits against the wheel is curved. The brakeis held against the face of the disk by a pin (c) passing through guidepieces (d) and playing in a recess (e) cut in the face of the disk andcapped by a are aiiixed to the ends of the brake-shaft havinghalf-rotation thereon and are also connected to and move with a bar (g).From this bar (g) extend forward arms (h) which unite at their frontends and are attached to a lever (i) passing through and having itsfulcrum in the reach of the plate The disks wagon. A rod (j) passes fromthe lower end of the lever to an arm aiiiXed to the rear end of thetongue The tongue instead of being connected to the arms of the frontaXle, as is usual, by a bolt, is fitted into a socket in which it has alimited backward and forward movement-a slot in the tongue through whichpasses a pin (m) limiting the movements of the tongue.

From this brief statement of the construction of the brake and thearrangement and position of the means for actuating it, the operation ofit will readily be understood. The holding back of the horses on goingdown hill will force the tongue backward and, through the means recited,firmly press the brakes upon the wheel. The form of the faces of thebrakes together with the manner of attachment to the disks, allows ofthe wagons being backed without the brakes acting, as it will be seenthat when the wheel is turned in backward direction the brake issomewhat lifted up and the wheel is in no way restricted in itsmovement. But when the wheel is moving in the forward direction, as ingoing down a hill, the forcing back of the tongue will bind the brakeupon the wheel.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-The arrangement of means herein set forth for operating the brake by theholding back of the team.

This specification signed this l1 day of March 1859.

JOSEPH ROSENKRANS.

Witnesses:

T. T. EVERETT, THOMAS BALLEY.

